Half-Life: Alyx Reviews
The classic shooter series gains a thrilling new perspective, thanks to VR tech that works symbiotically with the narrative
Through the lens of VR, Half-Life: Alyx is an amazing experience that blends action and storytelling with a profound level of immersion.
All future VR games will look to Half Life: Alyx as the gold standard hereon, and thanks to its absolute excellence in design and presentation we are all the better for it. Virtual reality will never be the same, nor will Half Life after Alyx's jaw-dropping conclusion.
It turns out Valve just needed new tech. It just needed VR. And it’s what I needed, too.
Half-Life: Alyx has set a new bar for VR in interactivity, detail, and level design, showing what can happen when a world-class developer goes all-in on the new frontier of technology.
“Half-Life’s” ties to survival-horror shine in “Alyx.” One enemy that most who have played “Half-Life” will remember are the Barnacles — monstrosities that attach themselves to the ceiling and dangle their long, thin, dark tongues close to the ground. VR makes their presence more unnerving. A random moment I loved happened when I pulled an object toward me that a Barnacle caught then with its tongue and devoured. I moved into place underneath it while carefully avoiding its grotesque appendage and fired a few shots, killing it and causing it to spit up my item. In that moment, and several others, I felt noticeably transported to one of the most vivid science fiction worlds I’ve experienced.
I hope I don’t have to wait for brain-computer interfaces to exist before the series returns again, because despite a handful of complaints, I still think Valve make the best first-person shooters around.
The masses may not rush out to buy a VR set to play Half-Life: Alyx. But anyone who loves video games should look at this game as a next logical step in the possibilities of dramatic, interactive storytelling. Bravo, Valve. Bravo.
Half-Life: Alyx reaches some astoundingly high heights while also managing to be both too ambitious and too conservative for its own good.
Valve has succeeded at just about every goal it must have had for this project. The only thing left is whether hardcore fans will be willing to buy, and use, a virtual reality headset in order to learn what happens next in the world of Half-Life. The good news is that those who do will experience what is likely the best VR game released to date.
Half-Life: Alyx is another Half-Life and from this, draw your own conclusions…
Review in Greek | Read full review
City 17 provides the setting for a VR adventure filled with brilliant detailing.
Half-Life: Alyx is not just a prequel. We are dealing with a tangible, independent entry into the franchise. It's a shame that not every fan can experience this story for themselves, because Valve did such an incredible job in the final that I couldn't stop being amazed. I don't want to give too much away either, because this, this is something big. End Episode Two big, to stay in the familiar terminology. However, the 15 hours before the credits are also fun and keep you in a good mood throughout. The reunion with old acquaintances, learning new skills in VR or a deeper immersion into the stories around the legendary "Gordon Freeman", whom the young Alyx only knows from stories and rumors: I approached the title with high expectations and Valve actually delivered.
Review in German | Read full review
Put in plain terms, if Beat Saber put VR on the map, then Half Life Alyx is the reason you chart a course. It's everything VR has needed and the return to a classic franchise we've been waiting for.
